Police Say Rock Star Was Free-Basing in Car

SAN FRANCISCO — The Grateful Dead's legendary patriarch Jerry Garcia was released on bail after his arrest by a police officer who accused him of free-basing cocaine in the front seat of his BMW, police said Saturday.

San Francisco police Officer Mark Gamble said he noticed that the registration had expired on a car parked Friday off a roadway in Golden Gate Park and confronted Garcia. Gamble said he noticed a "strong smell of something burning" and saw Garcia drop a piece of tin foil between the car's front seats.

Gamble said he later found 23 small bundles, thought to be either heroin or cocaine, in a nearby briefcase. Garcia, 42, of San Rafael, was arrested on two counts of possession of narcotics and one count of paraphernalia possession, Deputy Sheriff Greg Eatmon said.